Broken Alliances
by Skye Silverwing
Summary: After the defeat of their Dark Master, two Masters of Anything Goes made a Pact to join the schools. Later, the pact is broken, resulting in a blood feud, changing the events that shape the lives of their children. Alternate Ranma Timeline.
1. Chapter 1

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 1: The Forging

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

17 Years before Jusenkyo.

Two young warriors waited expectantly outside the deep cave that their master had vanished into. They looked at each other, silently praying that their plan worked, and fearing the result if it failed.

It had taken far more sake then they had expected to convince the horrible old man that a group of beautiful women had gone into the caves depths to bathe in a secret hot spring there, but the old fool had finally given in to his perversion and bounded willingly into their trap.

The pair of Martial Artists extended their ki senses, waiting for the beacon that was their Master to reach the deepest portion of the caves, then, together, they pushed down on the plunger, activating the dozens of charges that they had laboriously hidden along the entire length of the cave.

A satisfying series of explosions rang out throughout the cavern, followed by a deep, rolling rumble, signifying that the cavern had caved in along most or all of its length. The two martial artists looked at each other and grinned.

The Master was dead.

Without a word, the two went about quickly finishing their plan, rolling a huge boulder in front of where the cave used to be and hanging it over with wards made from male undergarments. They then posted signs about dangerous avalanches and rockslides as well as creatures that my or may not inhabit these woods.

In truth, both men feared that the explosion and resultant cave-in had failed to snuff the life from the old geezer, though their ki senses showed his power fading rapidly. Fortunately, there was no way, even if he did survive, that he could escape through wards so laced with male chi.

Satisfied, the long-haired martial artist turned to his balding companion. "We have done it, Saotome!" he said, "We have destroyed the master, and secured ourselves as the masters of the Anything Goes School!"

His companion nodded happily. "We have indeed Tendo!" he said, "We are free, and we can run the school as we see fit. How do you plan to use your half of the school, Tendo?"

Soun Tendo sighed. "Unfortunately, we still have limitations that could prove difficult to overcome…" He said, "It was always my desire to build a Dojo, and teach the Art to my children and all those that desired to learn it. Unfortunately, I lack the funds…"

Genma Saotome smiled at his friend. "Indeed. I, too, would like to build and run a Dojo." He said, "I even have the money to build it. Unfortunately, due to certain… unsavory… things I had to do while under the Master, I am not allowed to purchase property within the greater Tokyo area."

The two went silent for a moment. "I know, Tendo!" Genma said with a broad grin, "I will lend you the money to build your Dojo, then, when No-chan and I have a son, I will train him up with the Aerial style of Anything Goes. You then train your daughters in your ground style of Anything Goes, and we can have them marry each other, uniting the schools and giving us equal share of the Dojo. It is the perfect way to get both of us what we want!"

Soun thought about his wife, Kimiko, and their daughter, Kasumi. He knew Kasumi was just a baby, but he had always sensed the girl's strong spirit. This could work, especially if he had more girls with such spirit. And it would give his family a home and a place to train and learn the love of the Art.

After a moment, he nodded. "Alright, Saotome, we have a pact." Soun said, "In exchange for your money to build the Dojo, we will marry your son to my daughter to join the schools of Anything Goes, over which, we shall both serve as masters."

Genma and Soun shook hands, sealing the pact, and then they each went their own way.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Far bellow, in a dark place, a dark being sank into a meditative sleep. "Curse those ingrates…" it said. "I will make them pay for this…" Then its mind drifted in the darkness. It would bide its time until it became possible to escape, then it would wreak its revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 2: The Breaking

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi.

10 Years before Jusenkyo.

Genma Saotome had a happy grin on his face as he watched his 5-year-old son play with the daughters of his best friend. Young Ranma calmly went through the basic katas of the Anything Goes style next to Soun's eldest daughter, Kasumi, with her younger sisters watching.

Soun's second child, Nabiki, did not really seem interested in the Art, playing with a calculator, while her little sister, Akane, produced a small plastic toy mallet and attempted to strike the boy who was monopolizing her big sister's attention, and failing because of the motions of the Kata the boy was doing.

Genma chuckled and looked at his friend. "Soun, my old friend, it does seem like our children are getting along well." He said, "I can't wait until they are old enough for us to complete the agreement."

Soun's wife, Kimiko Tendo, who had just come from the kitchen with a tray full of snacks for the children, raised her head and looked at her husband's friend. "Agreement?" she asked, "What agreement?"

Genma looked at her and smiled. "Didn't Soun tell you?" he said in some surprise, "Years ago, we made a pact that that one of your daughters would marry my boy. It was an agreement on our honor, to join the schools of Anything Goes."

Kimiko directed a glare at her husband, causing the man's eyes to go wide in fear. "Is that so?" she said with a deadly calm voice, "Soun, I think it is about time our guests left, so we can have a little discussion."

Soun nodded, and gestured for his friend to retrieve his son and head for the exit, while Kimiko herded their daughters up to their rooms. Once the children were put away and their guests gone, she turned to give her husband an earful over this so-called agreement.

Unbeknownst to either of them, six-year-old Nabiki crouched in the shadows on the stairway, listening as her parents argued.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

The next day, Genma stood in the playground at the park, watching his son walk along the top of the monkey bars. He was not skilled enough to walk on a single bar yet, but the crossbars of the monkey bars made it an excellent first step.

Genma spotted Soun approaching with his two youngest daughters in tow and raised his voice to greet his friend. "Ah, Soun, how are you today?" he called.

Bidding his daughters to go and play, the long-haired man looked at his old friend and sighed. "Genma, I am afraid I have some bad news." He said, "My wife, Kimiko, has decided that she will not allow for the marriage pact."

Genma's eyes widened. "B-but she cannot do that!" he said, "We had an agreement!"

Soun looked at his old friend and shook his head. "Kimiko will not allow us to force our children to marry. She says that if the girls are to get married, it should be for love, not honor, and frankly, I agree with her."

"You can't do this!" Genma blustered, "We had an agreement!"

"The agreement was never put in writing, and there were no witnesses to it." Soun said, his eyes turning to glare at his friend. "You have no legal leg to stand on, Genma. Give it up. There is more to life then Anything Goes."

Genma fumed. "What about my money?" he shouted, "I paid for you to build that Dojo! I have a right to it!"

Soun stood his ground. "You can count it as a loss." He said, "There is no evidence that it was anything but a gift between friends. You are a known Thief, liar, and con-man. I am a respected member of society. You will never get anyone to believe you over me."

Genma began to emit a red battle aura, "I will fight you for it!"

"No. You won't." came a voice from behind him. They turned to see Principal Jinnai Kuno of Furinkan High School standing there. The well known and respected man knelt and sent his six-year-old son, Tatewaki, and five-year-old daughter, Kodachi, to play with the others. "There are several police officers in the area that would just love the chance to bring you in, Mr. Saotome, so, unless you want to get arrested in front of your son, I advise that you not do anything of the sort out here."

The man looked over to where Genma's pigtailed son had just dropped off the Monkey bars, landing between the young Tatewaki and Akane, just in time to take several strikes in the head from the girl's toy mallet. Young Nabiki was nowhere to be seen, and little Kodachi was very rapidly wrapping herself up in the ribbon he had gotten her for her rhythmic gymnastics class.

Jinnai sighed. "Listen, gentlemen." He said, "If you have an issue, you are not going to settle it here and now. Keep it honorable and peaceful."

Genma glared at Soun. "Soun Tendo, you have slighted my honor and that of my son." He declared, "In front of this honorable witness, I declare a blood feud between our houses!"

The bald man stormed over, grabbed his son by the arm and took him out of the park. "Come on, boy." He said, "I am going to train you up so you can beat Soun's brats and win his Dojo fair and square."

As he walked away with Ranma in tow, Nabiki poked her head out from where she had been listening to the whole thing. It scared her. The big man was going to take their home. She had to talk to her big sister.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Later, at the Saotome home, Nodoka Saotome was happily making dinner when Genma walked in. "Hello, Dear." she said, "How was the park?"

Her husband gave an angry growl. "That Honorless dog Soun Tendo backed out of the Marriage pact!" he said, "He won't give me back the money I paid him or a share in the Dojo either!"

Nodoka was stunned. She had known about the pact since Genma had made it, and was so happy that her son would not have to worry about all the courting and dating and related anxiety. "There is no way Kimi-chan would be ok with that!" she said, "She believes in honor!"

Genma growled. "Except that in seven years, Soun never told her about the pact until I mentioned it yesterday." He said, "She opposed it, and gave him all the reasons he needed to back out, and I can't do anything to make him uphold it, since it was a pact between honorable men with no written word or witnesses."

Nodoka shook her head. "So what are we going to do?" she asked, "It was so much money."

Genma sighed. "I am going to take the boy on a prolonged training trip." He said, "I will teach him to live below his means and learn the ways of Anything Goes in their natural manner. Then, when the time comes, I will bring the boy back and I will have him challenge their Dojo. He will win and he will take ownership of the Dojo."

Nodoka sighed. "Alright, Dear." She said, "But you must remember to bring my son back at least once a year. Oh, and no making contracts without telling me, alright?"

Genma nodded to his wife and then kissed her and then began preparing his son for a long trip.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Meanwhile, at the Tendo home, Nabiki sat on her sister's bed with her sisters, relaying to them what she had seen and heard over the last few days.

Kasumi looked at her sister with a soft smile. "Don't worry, Nabiki-chan, we are Tendos after all, and we can beat some silly boy." She said, "With Papa teaching us, we can't loose."

A sudden crash from downstairs made them all jump. They ran down, to find their mother lying on the floor, with their father kneeling over her.

Soun turned to his daughters with concern-filled eyes. "She collapsed!" he said, "Akane, run and get the medical student who lives down the street, Tofu, I think his name is; Nabiki, gather some blankets! Kasumi, boil some water!"

The three girls scattered to do their father's bidding, each forgetting the previous conversation in their haste to find aide for their mother.


	3. Chapter 3

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 3: Redefined

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi

Nine Years before Jusenkyo.

A solemn feel filled the Hikawa Shrine as the Tendos and their dearest friends mourned the loss of Kimiko Tendo. After a long year of fighting it, the woman's body had finally succumbed to the effects of the disease. It had been a wasting sickness; One that gradually drained the Tendo Matriarch of her chi. Ultimately, she had passed happily, in the embrace of her husband and surrounded by her daughters.

The service was simple, only the Tendos, and their family friends, the Kunos and the newly graduated Dr Tofu Ono, as well as a few of Kimiko's friends from her youth in the Xiaolin Temple. The priest of the shrine and his granddaughter officiated and offered their condolences.

Jinnai Kuno's support had proven invaluable to the broken family during the trying time prior to and immediately following Kimiko's death; the Kunos' massive monetary stores had kept food on their table and medical bills paid.

Dr Tofu had developed a friendship with Soun and his family since the day the youngest Tendo charged into his home, begging for his help. He had been happy to assist with all of the girls' minor injuries, and took the time to try to help Soun deal with the emotional impact of his wife's impending death.

In the back of the Shrine, unseen, Nodoka Saotome shed a silent tear for a woman who had been her friend before their honor had forced them apart. She had spoken with Kimiko since the feud had been formed between their families, but their stubborn husbands would not relent.

They all stood silently in memory of Kimiko, her support as a wife, and her love as a mother, her strength as a warrior, and her grace as a woman. She held a place in all of their hearts, and she would be missed greatly.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

In a dark hole somewhere, a fiendish laughter broke the silence.

"You will suffer far worse, boys…"

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

In another part of Japan, young Ranma hopped back and fourth, sparring with his new friend. The other boy battled with a large baker's peel, and spatulas that had been sharpened like blades.

Genma and the boy's father watched the fight intently, not speaking, from where they were standing next to the man's okonomiyaki yatti. Both of them waited as the children danced back and forth with deadly fluid grace, waiting for the outcome.

Ranma finished the match by disarming the Baker-Kunoichi of his baker's peel, and all of his spatulas. When the other boy bowed his head in defeat, his father nodded to Genma and produced an Okonomiyaki and handed it to the pigtailed victor.

Ranma smiled broadly at his opponent. "Yer pretty good." He said. "Wanna be friends?" Deep down, the pigtailed boy hoped that he would not loose another friend on this trip.

The young chef looked at his father, who nodded, then replied. "Okay." He said with a smile, "I'm Ukyo Kuonji." He said, "What's your name?"

"My name is Ranma Saotome." He said, "Uk….Uk…Uc-chan?" The boy struggled to pronounce his new friend's name, and finally settled on a slightly simpler nickname.

Ukyo smiled. "You can call me that if I can call you Ran-chan, kay?" he said.

Ranma nodded eagerly. He was so happy to have a friend that wasn't going to hit him with a hammer. He looked at his father who smiled and made gesture saying he could go play.

As the kids ran off, Mr. Kuonji looked at the man standing before him. "That style that your boy was using… It seems to be quick and sudden, more focused on speed and precision then anything else. Is that right?" He inquired, handing the man his own free okonomiyaki.

Genma chuckled. "Not really." He said with a grin, as he ate, "You may figure it out, though, if you keep offering such delicious prizes."

And so it went, day after day for three weeks. The Kids would fight, Ranma would win, and the Saotomes would eat, and all the while, Mr. Kuonji would try to determine the true nature of Anything Goes.

It was not until Mr. Kuonji spotted Ranma using one of his daughter's own moves against her, throwing rocks to counter her thrown spatulas, that he came to the realization. "He is modifying Ukyo's attack to fit his style…" He said, looking at the boy's father, "an adaptive, growing Martial Arts style… Incredible."

Genma grinned. "Indeed, Kuonji, every version of Anything Goes is different because it evolves as its practitioner moves around and encounters other styles."

The chef rubbed his chin. "Then I ask that you take my daughter and marry her to your son." He said, "Teach her this 'Anything Goes,' so that her skills may improve beyond their current level. I will even give you my yatti as her dowry."

Genma thought for a moment. With Tendo out of the way, he could easily accept the new arrangement for the boy and with the yatti they would have a nearly unlimited supply of food. But then, what would Nodoka say? There was no way he could go against his wife like that, and if he agreed to this pact, and had to cancel it later, wouldn't that make him no better then that rat, Tendo?

"I am sorry, friend, but I cannot, in good conscience, force my son and your daughter to pledge to get married at such a young age." He said, "Is it not, after all, love that is most important when choosing a spouse? It would certainly be dishonorable to force the children into a loveless marriage against their will, would it not?"

Mr. Kuonji took a moment to think about it. "You are right, Saotome." He said, frowning. "But I insist that you take my daughter along anyway, you see, my… night job is not the safest for raising children, and I wish to see my daughter into a decent family and kept safe from my enemies. I believe you are a man who can protect her and teach her to protect herself. I will give her the yatti, and you her guardianship."

Genma thought about this for a while. The master would have refused to train the girl, claiming women to be weak, but he was not the master, and he had seen strong women in the past, Nodoka and Kimiko were just the beginning.

He smiled at the man and patted him on the shoulder. "Let me call my wife." He said, "I will see if there is room for your daughter in Clan Saotome."

Kuonji nodded happily. Surely Genma Saotome was a great and honorable man.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

A short time later, Genma and the two children headed away with the yatti.

Ukyo looked confused. "I don't understand, Uncle Saotome, why do I have to leave my Papa?" she said, her eyes filling with tears, "Doesn't he love me anymore?"

Genma looked back at her from where he was pulling the yatti. "He does love you, Ukyo, perhaps too much." He said, "He knows that he has enemies that would harm you if you remained in his care, so he sent you to be raised by me, as my daughter and Ranma's sister."

"Sister?" Ranma asked, "Uc-chan is a girl?"

This drew an incredulous look from the girl. "You didn't know?" she said, putting her hands on her hips and fixing him with an irritated glare.

Genma chuckled when he saw it. Perhaps they would end up married after all.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

A. N. Before anyone asks, no, I have no intention of making this a full-fledged crossover. The presence of "friends from Kimiko's time in the Xiaolin Temple" grants a small amount of back story for the Tendo mother that was as absent in the source material as her name (and goes a long way toward explaining her relationship with Soun).

The fact that the funeral was held in the Hikawa shrine also suggests the presence of some explanations for Kimiko's wasting illness.


	4. Chapter 4

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 4: Training.

Disclaimer: If you have seen it elsewhere, I probably don't own it.

Eight Years Before Jusenkyo.

"That's odd." Ukyo said, as she searched through the yatti once again, "I was sure I had some octopus in here, and the herring I got at the market just yesterday is gone, too."

The three martial-artists were stopped in a rather large open field outside a small town in the back country of Japan. Ukyo had set up her Yatti and was about to begin cooking okonomiyaki when she noticed the loss of her ingredients. It was not good, since she knew her adoptive brother and father would be hungry once they finished training, and Octopus was Ran-chan's favorite.

Genma had spent hours in a local book shop, poring over a series of odd training manuals. Now he had Ranma building his strength by making him dig a pit with his bare hands, and having him periodically jump out of it. Ukyo figured that there were better ways to train strength, but she figured it worked, especially when she noticed that the Pit had reached a depth that made it nearly impossible for her brother to leap out without aide.

As Genma pulled him out of the pit, Ranma looked at Ukyo as she approached. "Hey Uc-chan!" he said with that smirk of his, "Is something wrong?"

Ukyo nodded. "All of my fish products have vanished." She said, "Ran-chan, have you been snacking on my ingredients again?"

Ranma shook his head.

Ukyo sighed. "The closest place where I can buy more Octopus is almost two days travel from here." She said. "I can make the journey on my own, but can you two get along without me?" She was a little dubious, especially considering Genma's more _unique_ training styles.

"Don't worry about us, Ukyo." Genma said with a grin, "The training I will have Ranma doing is going to take three to four days anyway, so just leave us a few days worth of food and we will be here when you return."

Ukyo nodded and began preparing four days worth of food, though as she started walking, she could not shake a bad feeling she had.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

"Enough, Daddy!" Nabiki said, glaring at her father, "You have been brooding for months! Quit crying and get up! We can't afford for you to be sitting around crying all the time!"

At the tender age of nine, Nabiki's favorite toy was her calculator. She had gone over the family's finances several times, and even with her big sister helping Dr. Tofu as a part-time nurse, they were simply not bringing in enough money to keep the Dojo running without their father to take students or at least teach them enough to the school that they could take students.

Soun had not, in spite of all of the efforts of Dr Tofu and the Kunos, taken Kimiko's death well. All he did was sulk and cry, all the time.

Nabiki decided to approach with the only thing that could get her father to move. "Daddy, if you don't get up and train us, then who will?" she asked.

Soun looked at his second daughter and sighed. "You don't need to be trained…" he said, "You're girls."

Nabiki bristled at that remark and decided to go ahead with her plan. "What about Saotome?" she asked.

"What about him?" her father replied sadly.

Nabiki looked at him and revealed something she had kept secret for almost two years. "I heard him say he would train his son and challenge us and take our Dojo, our home."

Her father looked at her and whispered, "It is no use." He said, "Girls could never stand a chance against a boy trained by Genma."

Nabiki used her Gambit. "So you are just going to let him take our home," She said, "after he took our mother?"

She did not really believe the words, but they caused her father to stand bolt up-right.

"What do you mean?" The Tendo Patriarch demanded, "How could he have taken your mother?"

The girl looked back at her father, choosing her words carefully. "You told us a story, a long time ago, about a demon of a man who could drain the energies of women." She said, "The one who trained you, and taught you Anything Goes."

Soun stared at his daughter, not yet following her logic. "The Master," He said, "but I don't see how he connects to all of this."

Nabiki continued to weave her false truth. "Mother died as her body gradually lost all strength." She said, "It seems to me that she was being drained like you said."

Realization dawned on Soun, but he still did not quite get what she was driving at. "But the Master is dead." He said, "How could he have…"

Nabiki smiled. "Ah, but when he died, you and Saotome divided the School evenly, correct?" she asked, seeing his slight nod, she continued, "And YOU did not get the scrolls pertaining to the draining of energy, which must have been part of the school, and therefore…" she trailed off as her father finally understood.

"SAOTOME MUST HAVE THEM!!!" he thundered, "That no-good dishonorable wretch must have learned the technique and used it to kill my darling Kimiko! And all because we refused to honor that stupid verbal agreement!"

Nabiki nodded, vaguely recalling that agreement.

Soun, now fully energized, leapt to his feet.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

In the home of the Kunos, Kunai Kuno, wife of Jinnai Kuno, smiled fondly at her husband and his trusty ninja servant, Sasuke, as they entered her bedchamber. It had been several weeks since she had taken ill, and her husband was showing signs that he had a surprise for her.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Jinnai asked, "Any better?"

She smiled at him. "Dr. Tofu told me that I have the same sickness that your friend Tendo's wife had." She said with a sigh, "It has no known cause, and no cure, so I am dying."

Her husband's eyes darkened for a moment, and then lightened again. "Ah, but Dr. Tofu also once speculated that it might be an environmental factor involved." He said, "The Tendo wife refused to leave Nerima without her family, and she could not take her children anywhere without ruining their school, so she could not get away from the environmental factors that may have played a roll in her demise. Fortunately, we have Sasuke to keep an eye on the kids, and these:" he held some slips of paper in his hands, "Two first class tickets to the brand new Kuno Estate in Hawaii!"

Jinnai watched as his wife's face lit up and she began to move to pack, with Sasuke to aide her. A large smile split his face.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

In the dark recesses of the Kuno estate, a shadow stirred. "What's this?" it thought, "My tasty treat is leaving me? I think not. Hawaii sounds good this time of year…"

Moving quickly, the think pooled in the shadows and flowed into the dark recesses of the bags that the ninja was carrying.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

"YOU COVERED RANMA WITH WHAT AND PUT HIM WHERE!?!"

To say that his adoptive daughter was angry with him would certainly have been a drastic understatement, Genma realized, as she advanced on him bringing her combat spatula to bear.

He waved his hands, as if to ward off her rage as he backed away. "I just wanted to make the boy stronger by teaching him the ultimate unbeatable technique!" He said, "How was I supposed to know it would make him go nuts and run off, yowling like a cat?"

Ukyo produced a book that Genma immediately recognized as the manual for the Neko-ken he had tried to teach Ranma. "WARNING:" the girl quoted, "This technique is psychologically damaging and may result in extreme Ailurophobia, Neko-psychosis, and Madness. This technique was created to create berserkers and should never be used on anyone."

Genma gulped hard. "Oopse." He said, "I knew I missed something."

Ukyo glared at him and finally sighed. "Well, if Ran-chan is in the state you claim him to be in, we need to find him quickly." She said, "Which way did he go?"

Genma pointed toward a large hole in a nearby line of bushes, which was followed by a trail of destruction the likes of which she had never seen. Trees cut down, bird's nests raided, dogs terrified, lawn furniture destroyed, catnip stolen, and mouse holes sliced open. It was like a giant cat with a chainsaw had had its way with the whole area.

The trail of destruction lead to the edge of town where it suddenly ended immediately after jumping a fence into a yard belonging to an elderly woman. Ukyo signaled for Genma to remain outside, in case the insane boy tried to flee, and vaulted to the top of the fence, hoping to spot Ranma before he could spot her.

She saw Ranma resting comfortably in the lap of an old woman. Using the silent maneuvers she had learned as part of her style, Ukyo slipped within lunging distance and prepared for the worst.

"That won't be necessary, my dear." The oddly perceptive old woman said in a soft, comforting voice. "This one is no longer under the effects of the Neko-Ken."

Ukyo relaxed in spite of herself and did not even think to ask how the old woman knew the name of the technique. "Is Ran-chan going to be alright?" she asked in a low whisper, "I would hate for him to be acting like a cat forever…"

The Old Woman smiled. "You really care about him, don't you, young one?" She asked.

Ukyo smiled. "Of course I do." She said softly, "He's my brother."

The Old Woman nodded. "Then you should know that the Neko-Ken is a powerful thing." She said, "Not easily overcome. It will return if the boy's fear of cats should ever be so great as to overwhelm his conscious mind. Not to worry though, for I shall teach you how to calm your brother and lull him to sleep, so that his own mind may return."

After several minutes of discussion, Ukyo carried the still sleeping Ranma out of the old woman's yard, and with her very sharp hearing, the old woman heard the girl inform her adoptive father that they were going to return home to see what Mrs. Saotome thought of this situation.

As the trio vanished from her senses, the old woman faded, slipping back into her old form. "Why can't I do more for them, master?" the Spirit of Kimiko Tendo asked the apparition that appeared next to her, "Life would be so much easier on them if they were removed from Genma's influence."

The Old Monk looked at his pupil. "Indeed, it would be better for them," he said, "but destiny has its path, and Genma still has much to teach them, even if it is only what not to do."

Kimiko nodded, bowing her head and offering the children a solemn prayer as she, her master, and the entire house faded from view.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

I would like to take a moment to say that, blood feud or no blood feud, Genma Saotome is STILL Genma Saotome.


	5. Chapter 5

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 4: Rivalry and Psychosis.

Disclaimer: If you have seen it elsewhere, I probably don't own it.

3 Years Before Jusenkyo.

Ranma grumbled as he walked along with his mother and sister. "Why do we have to go to school, anyway?" He complained again for the hundredth time since leaving his mother's home that morning. "Not like it teaches us to fight better…"

Nodoka looked at her son. "Of course it does." She said, "Knowledge is power, and all martial arts dependent on a proper mix of power and skill."

Ranma gave his mother a thoughtful look, then nodded, then hopped up on a fence nearby, followed closely by his sister.

Ukyo smiled at their mother. "Isn't it also good for us to have social interaction other then you and Pops?" She asked.

Nodoka nodded. She was glad that Ukyo had broken Genma out of the idea that girls were weak by nature. The Man had grown almost as much as the kids during this training mission, but all in all, her children were behind the curve when it came to dealing with other people. This is why she opted to put them in school during their most recent homecoming. She felt that perhaps the damage done by life on the road could begin to be repaired if they went to school for a time.

When they reached the next block, Ukyo looked to one side. "Hey, Ran-chan, isn't that boy over there wearing the uniform of our school?" She said, pointing at a boy in a bandanna walking away from them. "If he is going to school, he is going the wrong way. I'll go help him."

With that, the young chef bounded across the roof tops, followed closely by her brother, while their mother looked on.

Ukyo reached the boy first, dropping lightly in front of him, her brother moments behind. "Hey," she said, "Do you go to Jubaan Middle School, too?"

The boy looked at the boy and girl curiously. "Your clothes…" he said, his eyes widening, "They are the same as mine. Does that mean that I am finally near the school?"

Ranma looked the boy over. "Yeah, except it is that way." He said, pointing back the way they had come. Then he cocked his head, noticing the state of the boy's uniform. "Though your clothes seem kind of worse for wear. How long ago did you start for school?"

The boy paused and began counting off time on his fingers. "Let me think…" he said, "I guess it has been about three weeks."

Ukyo's eyes widened. "THREE WEEKS!?" she exclaimed, "How far do you live from the school?"

The boy shrugged. "It's not the distance, it is my family curse." He said. "We Hibiki's are cursed with the worse sense of direction imaginable. Even if my home was right across the street from school, I get lost and it takes me weeks to get back."

Ranma stared at the boy incredulously. "Yer kidding right?" He asked, "No body's sense of direction is THAT bad."

The boy sighed. "I wish." He said, "I haven't seen my parents in three years. We never find home at the same time."

"That is horrible." Nodoka said, walking up. "I know, how about if I have Ukyo and Ranma walk you to and from school, so that you don't get lost?"

The boy brightened a bit at the idea. "That would be a great help." He said. "Maybe then, I can be there to see my parents the next time that either of them manages to get home!"

Ukyo grinned broadly at the boy. "Okay, then." She said, "My name is Ukyo Saotome, and this is my brother, Ranma, and our mother, Nodoka."

The boy grinned back at her. "I'm Ryoga. Ryoga Hibiki."

Ranma was busy examining the pack on the boy's back. It was loaded down with gear meant for a long journey. Oddly, there was a bamboo umbrella strapped to the top of the pack, which seemed to raise the center of gravity for the whole thing. "Is that Umbrella weighted?" he asked.

Ryoga nodded. "Yeah, it is one of the focuses of my family's style of martial arts." He said. "The weighted umbrella is carried at all times, and used as a weapon in combat."

Ranma grinned broadly. "Wow, you're a martial artist, too?" he said, his energy rising quite a bit. "Maybe we can spar a bit later."

Ryoga grinned at the pigtailed boy. "Sure!" He said, "It's been a long time since I had an opponent that was a challenge to me."

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Dr. Tofu Ono knew that it was wrong. At first he refused outright to see what the girl was doing to him, shrugging it off as foolishness, or a flight of fancy, but he had begun to realize that whether he liked it or not, he was developing a strong attraction toward his fifteen-year-old assistant.

It was not Kasumi's fault, of course, she was just so beautiful and strong, both in body and spirit, which she drew him, and most of the region's other male martial artists, attracting them like flies.

She had been helping him for years and he began to fear that if this kept up, he would overstep himself, guided by this passion, and do something both of them would regret forever. Because of this, he began to distance himself from the girl, until she made a mistake that allowed him to dismiss her as his assistant until she had learned more about medicine. He hoped that the distance would help alleviate the stress that this passion caused.

The next day the girl brought him cookies. Witnesses claimed to have seen him dancing across the prefecture, dancing with his medical skeleton, Betty. Perhaps this was worse than he thought.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Ranma and Ryoga faced off on the soccer field during lunch. Both had enjoyed a delicious lunch of Okonomyaki, and both were anxious to learn what level the other could fight on.

Ukyo looked from Ranma to Ryoga serving as the referee for this match. "Ok, boys," She said, "The rules are simple sparring rules, victory by forfeit, knocking the opponent out, or by running out of time. BEGIN!"

Ranma and Ryoga stood still for a moment, sizing each other up before Ryoga charged forward like a bull, throwing a haymaker at the pigtailed boy, only to find him no longer where he was. Ryoga tried to stop, but with a tap from Ranma, his momentum carried him on, several feet before he managed to stop. Whirling to face his faster opponent, Ryoga was surprised to find the pigtailed boy not in his range of vision. He sought his opponent for several moments before he felt Ranma land on top of his head, a glance upward revealing the marital artist smirking cockily at him from his perch.

Suddenly, the Lost Boy whirled, snatching the umbrella from his pack and lashing out with it in one smooth, fluid motion. Ranma leapt from his perch a moment to slow, and the heavy weapon clipped his ankle, sending the pigtailed boy somersaulting through the air helplessly. Ryoga followed quickly, bringing the umbrella to bear, hoping to defeat his opponent in the moment after he hit the ground.

Ranma spun wildly through the air as he fell toward the ground, but he saw what Ryoga planned. Thinking quickly, he extended one arm, tapping the ground to diffuse the energy of the spin and perform a handspring, throwing himself clear of the umbrella just as it slammed into the ground, which shattered under the force of the blow, sending huge chunks of rock flying.

Ranma touched down on his feet, twenty feet from the crater Ryoga had just made. A soft "Eep!" came from directly behind him as Ryoga began to charge again. The Lost Boy funneled all of his strength into speed for the next attack, thinking his opponent would attempt to dodge it again. He leapt into the air, weapon held high over his head for a downward slam.

Much to Ryoga's surprise and shock, the force of the blow shot back up the shaft of the umbrella, shattering it as Ranma blocked it, stopping the blow cold, and shattering the ground below the pigtailed martial artist's feet. Ranma stood, like a rock, as a young blond girl, peeked out from behind him.

"You… Could've… Killed her…" The young Saotome said, as the pain brought tears to his eyes.

Ryoga stared at the girl and looked into the eyes of his rival. "I didn't mean to…" he said, and then he decided on an honorable course of action. "I yield."

Even as the words left Ryoga's mouth, Ranma nodded and the tension left his body, allowing the pain of his broken arms to overwhelm him and he collapsed into a heap.

Ukyo shuttered slightly at the thought of what would have happened if her brother had not exhausted his entire reserve of ki to stop that attack. She moved to help her brother as the blonde fled to fetch the school nurse, her twin ponytails streaming behind her.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Akane Tendo was angry.

The strength of the Tendo bloodline was a well sought after thing in Nerima, especially after the Three Tendo Daughters had taken the top three spots in the most recent Junior Martial Arts Tournament. Every Family in Town wanted their strength in their descendants.

Fortunately, this focus had fallen mainly on Kasumi, as she was the Eldest, and she was under the protection of Dr. Tofu while she was working for him.

After Dr. Tofu had discharged her, however, Kasumi Tendo had no longer been protected from the other men that wanted to add the Tendo bloodline to their own. The girl found herself refusing a lot of men, ultimately cloistering herself in the house simply to avoid the proposals while she studied medicine.

Then came Tatewaki Kuno. His family had been devastated by his mother's death, and then his father's failure to return from Hawaii. Tatewaki became the man of the house, and felt that he needed to get married in order to effectively run the house. The first idea that entered the boy's head was that the Tendos would make excellent wives. So he came to woo Kasumi.

It did not take long for the Tendos to realize that Kuno had no concept of "overstepping one's bounds". He seemed absolutely certain that Kasumi was in love with him, but was simply too shy to admit it. Ultimately, Kasumi became frustrated with the boy's persistence constantly interrupting her studies, and vented to her youngest sister.

Akane had proceeded to mop the floor with the aspiring Kendoist, telling him never to bother her sister ever again.

Kuno had not taken this in the manner she had expected, though. The following day Kuno declared his love for the youngest Tendo, who was as fierce as a Tiger. She had proceeded to beat him senseless, but he seemed to think it was her way of saying she loved him.

Akane was angry about this, but at least it meant that she had someone to work out her frustrations on.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Ranma was getting impatient. It had been three days, and Ryoga still had not shown up for their appointed rematch. "You're sure he is coming?" He asked his sister for the hundredth time.

Ukyo nodded. "He'll be here." She said, her eyes searching anxiously for any sign of the Lost Boy. "He was as excited about this rematch as you. Damn! I knew I should have gone to get him. He must have gotten lost."

Ranma cocked his head. "But… isn't that his house, right there?" He said, pointing at the building on one side of the vacant lot. "How could he have gotten lost when he can see the place from his window?"

Ukyo shrugged. "I am not sure." She said, "He and I went to lunch last week, and he said he knew a good place, so I let him lead. We wound up in Hokkaido."

Ranma stared at his sister. "You gotta be kidding me, Uc-chan!" he said with a joking smirk, "You and Ryoga went out on a date?"

Ukyo tried to hide her blush at her brother's insinuation. "N-no!" she stuttered, "We are just friends! I walk him to and from school so he doesn't get lost on the way! We're friends, Ran-chan. Just-"

She cut off suddenly, realizing that her brother was rolling on the ground laughing. "Oh, Ran-chan!" she growled, kicking him hard in the ribs, "You are such a Jerk sometimes!"

Ranma recovered as footsteps approached from the street. He turned to see Genma, Nodoka and Ryoga approaching in a group with another man in tow.

Ukyo and Ranma waved to Ryoga and Ranma grinned. "Hey Ryoga, it's about time you showed up." He said. "Our match was scheduled for three days ago. Maybe I should have sent my sister to pick you up."

Ryoga blushed, glancing at Ukyo, who blushed as well. "I got lost." He said simply. "I was lucky your mom found me. And look: She found my Dad, too!"

Ranma nodded at Mr. Hibiki and then turned to Ryoga. "So, shall we begin?" he asked, "I have been waiting for this for weeks."

Ryoga nodded and the two of them moved into the center of the vacant lot. They faced each other and sank into their beginning stances as the others stood at a decent distance to watch.

Ranma grinned. "Good." He said, "No bystanders, no innocents, no holds barred."

Ryoga grinned back. "Great." He said, "It has been too long since I have been able to go full out."

Ranma grinned even more broadly. "Me either." He said.

They both looked to Ukyo, who walked to the center of the field. "Alright, boys." She said, "This is a fair rematch: One-on-one, Victory by forfeit, knockout, or leaving the battle zone for a time period of more than thirty minutes. Ready…BEGIN!"

This time Ranma went on the offensive, lashing out with a series of blindingly fast punches and kicks that impacted solidly on Ryoga's defense, driving the Lost Boy backward as he struggled to maintain his position while still avoiding taking too much damage from the rain of blows that could each have easily defeated a weaker opponent. Deciding that Defense was proving ineffective, Ryoga suddenly flung himself at the pigtailed boy, pulling his new umbrella, swinging it in wide, sweeping arcs, banking on the memory of the pain his old umbrella had caused to force Saotome to retreat.

Much to Ryoga's shock, Ranma moved in closer, catching the umbrella near the handle. "Funny thing about Blunt weapons," the pigtailed boy said with a grunt, is that the further in they hit you, the less damage they do."

With that, Ranma flicked his wrist, sending the weapon to the ground some distance away with a heavy thud.

Ryoga grinned even more broadly. "The Umbrella is mainly just a training tool, anyway." He said, snagging Ranma's wrist, "We use them to build strength!"

He jerked hard on the pigtailed boy's wrist, flinging him high into the air, and then jumped after him, intending to strike him while he was tumbling defenselessly through the air.

On the sidelines, Genma grinned. "Ranma just won this one." He said.

Ryotaro Hibiki, Ryoga's father, looked from him to the boys, rapidly ascending. "Where do you get that?" he asked, "Ryoga has him in the air, defenseless."

Genma smirked. "Simple." He said, "Saotome Anything Goes focuses on aerial combat."

Suddenly, the pigtailed martial artist began to spin faster as he flew through the air, angling his body and emitting small bursts of ki, to control his flight. Ryoga, who could not adjust his course, found himself rising to meet a whirling roundhouse kick, rather than the expected defenselessness. Ranma's foot impacted solidly on the side of Ryoga's skull. The Lost Boy had a decidedly surprised look on his face as he tumbled back down to Earth, and his consciousness faded from him.

Ryoga's Unconscious form crashed heavily to the ground, and Ranma landed a moment later with practiced grace.

Ukyo ran to Ryoga's fallen form, and was pleased to find that he was uninjured, though he would certainly have a headache when he awoke.

Ryotaro looked at Genma. "You were right." He said, "Your son does have a large amount of skill, as well as untapped potential. I agree to your terms."

Genma nodded, a big grin on his face. "Great!" he said, "RANMA! UKYO! Get ready! We are leaving for China tonight!"

Ukyo gave Genma a stricken look. "But… but what about Ryo-chan?" she pleaded, "If we aren't here to walk him to school, he will get lost again!"

Ranma looked at the older Saotome as well. "Besides," he added, "we might never find someone else who can fight on my level."

Genma chuckled. "Of course, you are both right." He said, "That is why we are bringing him with us."

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

AN. A series of notes about this chapter:

First, yes, that was Usagi Tsukino, age 11, and no, I am not making this into a crossover – yet.

Second, the fact that Akane beat up Kuno for Kasumi is in no way indicating that the Eldest Tendo could not have done so herself. Kasumi prefers not to use Martial Arts to hurt people if she can avoid it. She is learning medicine after all.

Finally, I Love constructive criticism. If you can tell me another time to hit before Jusenkyo, please do. I think that all of the pieces are set up for what I have in mind, but I always appreciate the input.


	6. Chapter 6

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 6: New Complications

Disclaimer: In spite of some indications to the contrary, I still don't own this.

The Year of Jusenkyo.

Ranma smiled at his Rival and calmly plucked one of the ki-stiffened bandannas from the ground in the Chinese forest they had decided to make camp in for the night. "That was awesome, Ryoga!" He said, holding the steel-hard yellow-and-black material in his hand, "When did you learn that trick?"

Ryoga grinned back. "While I was lost last week, I met this old man being chased by a huge wild boar." He said, "I couldn't just let him get hurt, so I stopped the boar with my umbrella and flipped it into the air. The man was very grateful and gave me a scroll that showed how to use the cloth-steel technique. You want to learn it?"

Ranma grinned. "Sure, though I still don't understand your '10,000 Bandannas' trick, so if I started throwing my clothes at enemies, I would end up indecent even faster than you did that time we met the swordswoman at that all-girls' dormitory."

Ryoga blushed and then smacked his friend in the head. "Damn it, Ranma," He said, "It was all your fault! You just insisted that we investigate that Red-head you saw punch that guy into orbit."

Ranma chuckled. "Hey, it ain't my fault you got lost and ended up in the sword-girl's room!" he said, "I told you not to climb any stairs."

Ukyo, who had been listening, was blushing beet red. "There is no reason to bring up that instance." She said, recalling her own inability to keep her eyes off the lost boy as they fled from some kind of giant mechanical turtle.

Ranma grinned at his sister and Ryoga, realizing that they were both blushing now, and decided, in true Saotome fashion, to push it a little bit further. "Well," he said, his grin broadening even further, "I suppose we could talk about the time we met Mom's old sensei from Mahora and he sneezed and blew all of YOUR -"

Ranma could not speak any further, as a massive baker's peal had embedded him several inches into the ground.

Ukyo seethed as she hit him several more times for good measure. "I told you NEVER to mention that incident EVER AGAIN!" she yelled, a mixture of rage and embarrassment on her face.

Ryoga suddenly toppled over, having feinted dead away with a nosebleed at the memory of the event Ranma had mentioned.

Ukyo turned and fled into her tent, mortified that Ryo-kun had seen that.

Genma sighed. Their journey would soon be over. It had been a long hard ride, but if the kids kept advancing at this rate, they would be able to defeat Tendo's brats easily. All that was left on his itinerary was the Legendary Training Grounds, said to be here in the valley ahead. The training ground called Jusenkyo.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Akane screamed in irritation as she lashed out at her eldest sister. Kasumi calmly evaded her strike, shifting her weight as she caught the blow and spun her sister to the floor.

A worried wrinkle appeared in the Eldest Tendo daughter's brow as she looked down at her little sister. "Are you all right, Akane?" she asked. "You seem overly frustrated. Is something wrong?"

Akane looked up at her angelic sister, and nodded. "It's Kuno." She said, shaking with anger. "He was a pain before, but now he had gone too far."

Kasumi looked to Nabiki, who merely nodded. "Four days ago, Kuno declared that if anyone wanted to date Akane, they had to defeat her in combat first." She said, "This brought out all the interest of the men who want to add our martial prowess to their family lines, resulting in a fair number of boys attacking her all at once, every morning for the since, assuming that beating her means they can date her."

Kasumi's eyes widened somewhat. "Oh, My!" she said, "That IS bad."

Akane issued a feral growl. "The worst part is that each day, there are more of them." She said. "It is like every martial artist and sportsman in the entire school was waiting for me this morning, as well as some that I don't think attend our school at all."

Kasumi frowned. "Isn't the school doing something to stop it?" she asked.

Nabiki shook her head. "Kuno has the entire school board in his back pocket," she said, "and the teachers are either being paid to look the other way or too scared to say anything."

Kasumi rubbed her chin. "This is worse than I thought." She said, "Kuno has too much money for us to effectively counter him…"

Nabiki suddenly perked up as an idea formed in her head. She quickly drew her older sister off to one side, while Akane proceeded to vent her frustrations on a nearby punching bag. "I have an idea," she whispered, "and if it works, it could not only draw off most of Kuno's excess funds, but also put all three of us through college."

"Oh, my!" Kasumi said, her mind suddenly going to the possibility of gaining her medical degree, and going to work with Dr Tofu again. "How could we do that?"

Nabiki grinned. "Well, if Kuno is so interested in Akane, why don't we sell him pictures of her?" she said, "Nothing racy, of course, just a few action shots of her training, but at high prices. Kuno loses money and we gain it."

Kasumi did not look convinced.

Nabiki smiled. "It will work," She said, "and it should not take long, I mean, how much liquid funds could the Kunos possibly have?"

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Genma Saotome and his charges moved into a low, misty valley, dotted with hundreds of pools of water with bamboo poles rising out of them. "At last," the old martial artist said with a satisfied grin, "we have arrived. This is the Legendary training ground, Jusenkyo!"

The three teens looked around, curiously.

Ranma huffed. "THIS is a legendary training ground?" he complained. "It doesn't look any better than most of the other places we have been over the last seven years."

Ukyo seemed a little concerned though. "What do you suppose the danger is, anyway?" She asked, referring to the numerous signs they had seen on the way here, professing how dangerous this place was. "It doesn't seem that bad, what with the pools to land in. You would think there would be molten lava, or acid, or spikes or something."

Ryoga chuckled. "They probably spent all their money on the advertizing." He said, recalling how many signs there were. "I guess the idea is to jump on the poles and not fall in the water."

Genma nodded. "Alright kids," he said, "let's get training. Ryoga, you and Ukyo are the least proficient in mid-air combat, so you spar with her while Ranma and I give it a go. First fighter to fall in the water has to make dinner tonight. The second one helps."

With that, the four martial artists leapt onto the poles.

Ryoga cursed as the bamboo pole groaned under the weight of his gear. He quickly leapt to another pole, letting the pack drop to a dry area below with a loud crash. As he turned to face his sparring partner, a man in a green uniform exited a nearby house. He shouted something in Mandarin. Ryoga's mind caught on the words, trying to translate them as Ukyo suddenly lashed out at him with her baker's peel. A loud clang was quickly followed by a splash as the Lost Boy tumbled into the pool below.

Ukyo grinned and called out to him. "Come on, Ryo-chan!" she called, "You know you can't get distracted in the middle of a spar!"

There was no response.

Not far away, Ranma and Genma leapt through the air, exchanging blows mid-air, each expertly landing on a different poles and leaping to strike again.

Hearing the splash, Genma grinned at his son. "Looks like it will be you and Ryoga cooking tonight, boy." He said. "You are still Twenty years too young to be able to- Oof!"

The last was said as Ranma landed a solid kick in the center of his chest, sending him hurtling into the pool below. Ranma smirked down at the surface of the pool as it bubbled and churned in response to the man's entry.

The man in green, called out to them, having finally recognized the language they we using as Japanese. "Oh, No, Sirs!" he called, "Honored Customer has fallen into Shonmaoniichuan, the spring of the Drowned Panda! There is very tragic tale of Giant Panda drown in that pool to thousand years ago."

He was interrupted by a large splash as a Panda burst from the water, landing on one of the poles across from a very surprised Ranma.

"Now whoever fall in Spring take form of Panda!" The Guide finished.

The Panda failed to notice his transformation, and lashed out at his dumbfounded son, to teach him never to let his guard down when he thinks his foe defeated. The blow launched Ranma backward and downward, through the pole upon which Ukyo stood, staring down in worry as she realized that Ryoga had not come back up yet.

Her support gone, the Ninja chef tried to control her fall, landing in the pool next to the one Ryoga landed in. Ranma, unable to correct for his velocity dropped into yet another pool.

The Jusenkyo Guide sighed and pulled out a logbook. "Too, too many customers today." he said, looking down at a confused looking black pig.

He made some notes in the book as the boy that fell into Nyannichuan, the spring of the drowned girl, emerged in the form of a red-haired girl. Ranma looked down at herself and screamed. She then got up, stumbling a little, as her center of gravity had changed, and charged toward the panda in a rage.

The Guide then noticed a fox pulling itself out of Hulinichuan, the spring of the drowned fox. Moving quickly, he collected the pig and fox, and took them into his house. "Honored customers!" He called to the Panda and girl, "You must come! I must explain!"

The girl turned to look at him and the Panda, having finally noticed its being a panda, followed suit. The Guide felt very nervous, because this girl was glowing with rage. "What. The. Hell?" The girl asked, fixing the guide with a glare that promised death. The Panda nodded, and the fox and pig seemed to agree.

"Springs here are cursed." The Guide said, sweating under the scrutiny of the individuals around him. "Creatures drown in each one, now whoever fall in take form of whatever drown in spring."

Ranma glared at him. "There had better be a way to reverse this." She said dangerously.

The guide waved his hands wardingly in front of him. "Yes, yes, hot water reverses effect." He said, "Though cold activates again. Is curse."

Ranma grabbed the front of the guide's green uniform. "Then quit standing here and GET US SOME HOT WATER!" she growled, then pushed the man back into his house.

"Right away, honored and understandably angry customers!" The Guide called as he fled into his house to retrieve the hot water he had set for tea. "Here it is!"

He quickly doused the four Jusenkyo victims.

After a quick glance around, a male Ranma and a human Genma both blushed and turned their backs and Ryoga fainted dead away. Ukyo looked at them, confused for a moment before she realized that both she and Ryoga were naked. She blushed beat red before grabbing Genma by the gi and looking him straight in the face. "I am only going to tell you this once, old man." She said, her face a picture of absolute doom. "You WILL teach us how to keep our clothes through the Transformation. Understood?"

The man nodded and deliberately avoided looking anywhere but her eyes.

The Guide sighed. This was going to be difficult.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Sasuke looked over the Kuno family finances again and sighed. Once again, he was glad for the time he had taken to earn his degree in economics. Master Tatewaki had recently had a drastic increase in his cash outflow, to such an extent, that the family's coffers would have been quickly bled dry if not for the Ninja's great ability in investment.

Surely this "Nabiki Tendo" was trying to bankrupt the Kunos for some reason, as well as enriching her own family in the process. It was a great idea, dangling the young master's desires in front of him in such a manner as to grant them without granting them, and always leave him wanting more. Only Sasuke stood between the Masters and losing their house and home.

After ensuring that his masters would be able to continue living in luxury for a fair amount of time, he went back to his plans. A financial empire could be started with a little money. Perhaps he could take on Ms. Tendo as a partner. Then he would finally have the means to get his revenge on his brother and find a way lift the curse and change his body back to the way it was, so he could return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Cursing the rain even after it stopped, Ranma looked at her companions. Her Father, in Panda form, her sister, in fox form, and the Jusenkyo Guide walked, while Ryoga, whose cursed form was smallest, rode on Ukyo's back. This left Ranma carrying everyone's gear as well as pulling Ukyo's yati.

They approached a small village, and the Guide stepped forward. "This is village of Chinese Amazon Womans." He said, "You very lucky. They having yearly tournament today."

A log was suspended above the ground, where a beautiful young woman with purple hair was doing battle against a large, heavily muscled monster of a woman in front of a number of spectators. The Purple-hired girl used a pair of maces wrapped in cloth, to defend against the other's attempts to strike her with a large spiked mace.

Watching the spectacle, Ranma leaned against a table laden with food, not noticing as her father, following the lead of his large, panda belly, proceeded to begin eating its contents.

The battle ended quickly as the girl delivered a devastating blow to her opponent, sending her flying off of the log. She then held her hands up in victory.

Ranma was impressed. "That's some impressive power that girl's got." She said.

The Jusenkyo Guide, the only one presently capable of understanding and responding to her, nodded. "Is great honor to win tournament." He said.

Ranma's attention was still on the girl on the log. Another woman, who Ranma took to be the referee, seemed to be announcing the victory in Mandarin, but she ended by naming the girl, something that sounded an awful lot like "Shampoo".

The girl, Shampoo, was beaming at the attention of the members of her tribe, when she looked in Ranma's direction and scowled.

Ranma's eyes widened as she realized that something was terribly wrong. "Mr. Guide," She said without looking, "please tell me that my father is not doing something that will invariably anger these people."

The response she received was not at all what she wanted. "What you eating, there Panda?" the Guide said, "Aiya! That is tournament first prize!"

Ranma sighed and leapt vertically, landing atop Shampoo's bon-bori as it smashed into the spot she had been standing a moment before. She said something in Mandarin, which the Guide translated as "You, Outsider, why you and Panda steal my prize?"

Ranma shot a glare at her father. "Prize?" she asked.

Shampoo glared at Ranma. "Every year, this day is Tournament in village." She said, with the Guide translating. "I am now champion, so prize is mine, but your Panda ate it!"

Ranma groaned. "Stupid Pops…" she said, rolling her eyes. Ukyo and Ryoga seemed to agree with the sentiment. "Okay, so if the food belongs to the winner of the tournament, does that mean that it will be mine if I challenge and defeat you?"

The Guide translated, and Shampoo nodded. She turned and spoke with the referee, who announced what was happening to the crowd. Shampoo lead Ranma to the challenge log, and the two wasted no time in mounting the log and facing off.

As the match began, the unarmed Red-head stood in a relaxed position, as though she was not concerned about the Amazon warrior, brandishing her pair of bon-boris. This caused the lavender haired Amazon to charge forward, intending to end the match quickly.

Ranma analyzed the girl's movements and waited until the last moment, delivering a fierce kick through a hole in the girl's defense and easily sending her flying off of the log. All of the Amazon spectators were silent as Shampoo crashed to the earth with a heavy thud.

Ranma stepped off the log and the referee announced her victory. Shampoo pushed herself to her feet and approached her opponent in front of the silent audience. She cupped the Red-head's face and kissed her on the cheek, causing the Neo-girl to blush.

The Guide screamed and grabbed Ranma buy the arm. "We must run, Honored Customer!" He said, "You just got Kiss of Death! She kill you, even if mean follow to the End of the World!"

Ranma wrenched her arm free. "If she would follow me to the ends of the world to kill me, there isn't much point in running." She said, turning to face her opponent again. She cast a quick glance at the fox and pig where they were watching from. "I have people that I care about who cannot always defend themselves, and I have to believe that, if she is as determined as you say, she would go after them to get to me. Better to put an end to this now."

As the Guide translated, a murmur rose amongst the Amazons. No one had been brave enough to meet an Amazon Kiss of Death head-on in over a century. Several girls ran to get the elders.

Silence fell upon the village once more, as the Outsider who had defeated the champion sank into a serious fighting stance and the bested champion swapped her maces for swords.

"STOP!"

Everyone turned to look at the one who had spoken. A tiny, shriveled old woman stood at the entrance to her hut. She was balanced rather precariously on top of a long, gnarled oak staff. She bounced over to look at Ranma. "That stance…"she said in Japanese, "Where did you learn it, outsider?"

Ranma was surprised at how shrunken the woman was, not to mention how well defined her ki was, like a stone worn to a shine by decades of constant handling. This was a master the likes of which she had never seen before. "My old man taught me." She said, "It is the family school."

"Old man?" The Crone demanded. "How old? What was his name?"

Ranma did not like the way that the old woman's tone spoke of death if she answered incorrectly. "My father." She said, cautiously, "He is right over there." She pointed at the Panda.

The Elder looked where the girl had indicated, taking up a defensive stance as though she expected to be attacked by someone on her level. She stared at the panda for a long moment, then looked back at the girl. "The Panda?" she asked, and seeing the girl nod, she nodded. She looked at the Guide and sighed. "I gather he fell in at Jusenkyo."

The guide nodded.

The Elder looked at the Red-head again, this time regarding the other animals with her. "My dear, are these also victims of the Pools of Sorrow?" she asked.

Ranma nodded. "And me as well." She said, "I was male.

The Elder's eyes widened, along with the eyes of the rest of the village. "Get them some hot water." The Elder said.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Doctor Tofu Ono had become widely known as one of the best practitioners of medical acupressure in the whole of Japan. It was said that most people could be cured of almost any ailment in one treatment. His was a nearly miraculous reputation.

There was, however, another rumor that flew in the face of his great skill. It was said that the Doctor's practiced skill could become unpredictable and wildly destructive whenever he was exposed to a certain nineteen-year-old.

It was said that anyone unfortunate enough to be in the doctor's exam room when Ms. Kasumi Tendo appeared was likely to leave the Good Doctor's care in considerably worse shape than he had arrived in. It was so bad that the Doctor's regular patients developed a word-of-mouth Kasumi warning system that let them know immediately anytime the Eldest of the Tendo Daughters was within a half a mile of the Doctor's clinic.

It was because of this warning system that a limping Akane Tendo, exhausted from the fifteenth straight day of school started by defeating a large portion of the student body of her school, entered the Doctor's Clinic to find it empty.

Tofu smiled at the Youngest Tendo as soon as he saw her. "Ah, Akane!" he said, "How are you today? You didn't get injured in your fight this morning, did you?"

Akane sighed. "No, Dr. Tofu." She said, "I stepped wrong on a curb and turned my ankle. Could you take a look at it?"

Tofu smile and let the girl into his exam room and took a look at her sprained ankle. "You know, Akane," he said, "You need to be more careful. You don't want to accidentally hurt yourself and make it harder for you to beat all those boys."

Akane smiled at Tofu as he deftly used pressure points to her leg, relieving her pain and bringing her energy back up again. She wished that every boy could be this kind and attentive. Sadly she had yet to meet any other boy that did not intend to force her to marry him if he could.

Tofu smiled. "All done." He said. "Tell your family that I said hello."

Akane smiled once more and headed out the door. She noticed the patients beginning to return and though how lucky she was to have gotten in and out with such good timing.

Slightly over a half a mile away, on her way back to the Tendo home from shopping in the market by Tofu's clinic, Kasumi sneezed.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Elder Ku-Lon glared at the fat oaf as they sat in her hut surrounded by several armed Amazons. "Tell me," she demanded in Japanese. "Where did you learn that style?"

Genma glared back. "I was taught this style by the former Grand Master of my school." He said. "An ancient evil creature by the name of Happosai."

Ku-Lon flinched and glared at him. "You dare to speak of that thief here?" she demanded. "He appeared in our village almost three hundred years ago and stole many artifacts of great power from us. If you have them, you would do well to return them."

Genma sighed. "Any artifacts the old fool may have carried on him are no doubt buried with him in his tomb." He said.

Ku-Lon's eyes widened. "That monster is dead?" she asked, surprised. "How?"

Genma chuckled. "My old training partner and I realized the master's evil about seventeen years ago." He said, "We forced him into a deep cavern and then collapsed it on him. It may have been cruel and underhanded, but sometimes that is the only way to eliminate a creature of such evil."

Ku-Lon nodded. "Indeed." She said. "Then you are a friend of the village. We will not hold your son and my Granddaughter to the law of the Kiss of Death. However, I believe that some propriety be upheld here. I ask that our progeny be linked by the Kiss of Marriage instead."

Genma looked at the old woman and shook his head. "I cannot agree to such a thing without the permission of my wife." He said, "She would never forgive me if I married the boy off without asking her."

Ku-Lon smiled, a terrible sight to behold. "Then we will have to ask her when we get there." She said.

Genma looked at her askance. "What do you mean?" He asked.

She chuckled. "Simple," she said, "When you and your charges return to Japan, Xian-pu and I are coming with you."

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

A.N. This is still not a crossover. Yes, those were references to Love Hina, Negima and Naruto, but it is not a crossover until I bring in someone who does not already exist in the Ranma world and name them by name.

I hope you liked this Chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it.


	7. Chapter 7

Broken Alliances

By Skye Silverwing

Chapter 7: Homecomings

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

A few months after Jusenkyo.

It was raining. Ranma hated the rain. It always stuck her in female form without the benefit of even a good conversation. Ukyo and Ryoga used to be fun to chat with all the time, but in the rain, the conversation became one-sided, since their cursed forms could not speak.

On days like this, she even wished to hear her father yelling at her about getting lazy and soft, rather than a stern "Growf" and a sign. Where did he even get those anyway? As a panda, he should not even be able to use a pen, let alone in the moments during a conversation.

Sure, she could try to hold a conversation with the Old Bat, or Shampoo, but Cologne would force her into another series of those damned Amazon training exercises. In the past few months she had forced her to grab hot chestnuts out of a fire, hit her with huge rocks, and forced her into a contraption that pulled her into terribly contorted positions when she let her chi heat up. Ranma realized, of course, that each of these exercises had an effect, like some of her father's more unusual regiments, but that did not mean she intended to invite any more of them upon herself then necessary.

If anything, trying to talk to Shampoo was even less appealing an idea than trying to talk to Cologne. The girl was beginning to understand the basics of the Japanese language, but it was slow going. She understood enough to announce to everyone that "Shampoo love Ranma!" much to Ranma's embarrassment, however, she did not yet understand enough to understand that every single time Ranma approached her to speak, she was not necessarily giving her the okay to hug, kiss, or glomp her with a joyful cry of "Wo ai ni!" which Ranma had come to realize must mean something along the lines of "This is my impression of a parasitic man-eating octopus monster." Apparently, Cologne was saving the word "No" for a later lesson.

And so, Ranma walked in bored silence as she and her entourage made their way into Tokyo.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

It was raining. Akane liked the rain. Rain meant that Kuno and his army of perverts would not be waiting for her with the same level of force as on a sunny day. It also reduced the ferocity with which those that did show up attacked her. This meant that she might actually get to class on time for a change.

Rain also meant that her Elder Sister would wait and walk to school with her. Nabiki had been becoming increasingly distant, doing things in secret, having furtive conversations on the telephone, and often not willingly meeting Akane's eye and muttering under her breath about some "Damnable Ninja". When it rained, though, it was like a weight was lifted from Nabiki's shoulders, and she actually seemed to see Akane.

Then there was Kasumi. On most days, Akane's Eldest sister spent most of her time working to keep the house clean, make food, clean laundry, and clean up after the four of them while Akane, Nabiki, and Soun went about doing whatever they needed to do that day, and what time she had left usually went to studying for her medical classes at Tokyo University, or training as the heir to the Dojo. On rainy days, however, Akane and Nabiki had little else to do, so they helped with the household chores, and got in some quality time with their big sister. This allowed Kasumi to finish faster, and with the excess time, the three Tendo daughters would pull out their mother's old journal and read about the adventures she had when she was young.

Akane had been ecstatic when Kasumi told her that she was using her own skill, along with the accounts in the journal and several scrolls, to reproduce her mother's combat style. The Eldest Tendo was working on perfecting it, but she believed that it would not be long before she could teach it to her younger siblings. The very idea made Akane and Nabiki feel just a little bit closer to not only their late mother, but their big sister as well.

But that was for later. For now, Akane needed to get ready for school.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

As the light began to fade that evening, Cologne called a halt, suggesting that they make camp in a park that they were passing.

Ranma looked at the old woman and then at her father. The Panda seemed to have no more desire to stop then she did. "Why should we stop, Old Ghoul?" Ranma asked, receiving a crack on her head from the old woman's cane. "We are almost there. If we push on, we could be there just after dark."

Cologne just sighed. "Tell me, Child: How would your mother react to such a rash action?" she asked, "Opening the door in the middle of the night to find an old woman and two young girls she does not recognize accompanied by a bunch of wild animals?"

Ranma paused for a moment, to consider her mother's skill with that sword of hers. She had always said she would only use it if her life was in danger, but she might just think that if they chose to go to the house now.

Ranma nodded, using that Soul of Ice technique Cologne had been teaching her to master the desire to keep going until she finally reached home for the first time in over a year. It was smarter to camp in the park for the night and go to her mother's house in the morning, after the rain stopped and they had all gotten hot water. As Ranma set up the tents, the misery and loneliness of a rainy day forced her to draw deeper on the Soul of Ice in order to ward off the growing despair.

Cologne's eyes narrowed at the sight of a single snowflake drifting by. "Ranma, if you intend to use the Soul of Ice, then we might as well train." She said, then, she developed a mischievous grin. "We can have Shampoo help." She turned and said something to her granddaughter, causing the lavender haired Amazon to smile in the same way she always did when she intended to grab Ranma like a teddy bear.

Cologne grinned. "Why don't you try that spiral again, Ranma?"

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Akane sighed, staring out at the evening sky. The clouds were beginning to break, which told her that the following day, Kuno would throw a veritable wall of students at her. She was just glad she got to spend some time with Kasumi that day. Akane was so proud of her sister, nearly mastering their mother's style already. She had even showed them how the style allowed for some control over the element of Fire. It was enough to have the younger girl as jittery as a five-year-old on ten pounds of candy.

Akane had already finished her usual training regiment for that day, but she had too much energy to sleep. She decided that a nice jog would likely help her clear her head. She slipped into her jogging outfit and made her way out into the cooling night air.

The scent of the newly fallen rain was still all around as the youngest Tendo worked to spend the pent-up energy that she had built up during the day. She knew that the next day's fight would not be easy, but Akane Tendo never lost.

Suddenly, about three blocks away, there was a roar and a rush of winds as a column swirling air a hundred feet high sprang into existence, whirling on the spot for a matter of moments before it collapsed just as quickly.

The Youngest Tendo was about to give in to her curiosity when a woman fell from the sky, landing in a Trash dumpster ten feet away from her. She stared at the dumpster in horror as her body involuntarily moved forward to look, hoping that whoever it was wasn't dead.

As she reached the dumpster, the girl inside it sat up, eyes brimming with tears. She looked at Akane and said something that sounded like "Airan no love Shampoo.", and then started to cry.

Akane did not know what to do. "Um… hey?" she said, softly, "Do you need help?"

The Girl stopped crying and looked at her, her exotic lavender hair showing in the light of a nearby street lamp. "Help?" she repeated, she seemed confused, weighing the word as though she had never heard it before. She pulled out a small book which Akane saw was a Chinese-Japanese dictionary. "Help? Shampoo no need Help! Shampoo is proud warrior! Shampoo win Airan!"

With that, the mysterious, lavender-haired girl jumped from the dumpster and ran back in the direction of the tornado Akane had seen earlier. The black-haired girl stared after her for a long moment and then sighed. "Great." She said with a grimace, "Just what this town needs, another lunatic."

With that, Akane turned and walked away, hoping that this wasn't a sign of things to come.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Ranma had to admit, clingy and embarrassing as Shampoo was, she had not intended to blow her away in a tornado. Embarrassment was really no reason to hurt the girl. She had tried to move in the spiral as Cologne had instructed as Shampoo tried to do her octopus impression. Then, just as Ranma had reached the center of the spiral with no place left to go, she had pitched some of her cold ki at the girl, hoping to calm her down.

Bad idea.

As the mass of air swept the girl into the sky, Ranma felt a stab of guilt and concern, which, unfortunately for her, were a bit too hot. The heated ki swept Ranma up as well, sending her tumbling helplessly through the air.

After several seconds of hang time, Ranma descended at high speed, realizing at the last moment that she was going to land on top of someone. The small, ugly man in a purple suit looked up just in time to see the buxom red-head for a moment before she landed on him.

The ninja groaned in pain as Ranma rolled to get off of him. "Oh my god!" she said, "I didn't mean to land on you! I was just blown away by that little tornado and I was out of control!"

Sasuke winced again. "It's alright, I suppose…" he said, "I have been hit harder, but that was another life. I am Sasuke; Loyal retainer ninja to the Kuno family. And you are?"

The girl perked up. "Ranma Saotome." She replied. "You sure you are okay? You look like hell."

Sasuke sighed. "Not your fault. I have a curse-mark to blame to my looks." He said, then his eyes widened slightly. "Wait, did you say Saotome? As in Genma Saotome?"

Ranma narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "My old man." She said levelly, "Why, did he do something?"

Sasuke grinned. "No." he said, "I recalled seeing that name in a file once. Now if you will excuse me."

With that, Sasuke vanished into the night, without a trace.

Ranma looked after him for a few moments, then sighed and looked around, only to have Shampoo barrel into her. "Airen! Shampoo was worried!" she said, then dropped into Mandarin to attempt to explain how she had returned to find Ranma gone. Ranma did not understand a word of it, but he was glad she wasn't hurt.

The two returned to the camp to find a fire going and the others all in human form.

"Where have you two lovebirds been off to?" Ryoga said in a mocking tone.

"Can it, Ryoga." Ranma growled, moving toward him, "Or you go up in the twister next."

Ukyo stepped between them. "Now, now, Ran-chan, Ryo-chan," she said, "If you two keep this up, I am not making you any dinner."

Sufficiently cowed, the two martial artists sat down, Ranma taking the opportunity to restore his male form.

Cologne smiled knowingly at Ranma. "I hope that your little trip in the vortex taught you a thing or two about keeping your ki cold throughout the maneuver, Child." She said, "Though I must say your execution was excellent."

Ranma winced and then nodded. He hated being called "child" but it was better than some of the things the Old Ghoul had called him.

Genma chuckled. "Keep that up, and I may have to unseal the secret techniques for you, Boy." He said.

The light faded the rest of the way, and they all went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

It was well before dawn when Nodoka awoke to begin making breakfast for seven, as she had every morning since she had received Genma's most recent correspondence, indicating that he and the kids were coming home with two more companions. She was not sure what kind of time they would make, so she made enough food at each meal since.

She was just finishing setting the table when she was rewarded by a knock on the door. She rushed to open it, smiling happily to see her husband, son, adoptive daughter, and the boy she had come to think of as one of hers, as well as a lavender haired beauty and a wise looking older lady, perched precariously atop an old wooden cane.

"Welcome home!" Nodoka said happily hugging each of her family members.

"Hiya, Mom!" Ranma said, grinning. "Allow me to introduce Elder Cologne of the Chinese Amazons, and her Great-Granddaughter, Shampoo."

"Nihao!" Shampoo said, bowing deeply.

Cologne nodded to the Saotome Matriarch. "It is good to finally meet you, Nodoka Saotome." She said. "It is good to meet an outsider woman capable of keeping her male in line, even as he gallivants around the Chinese countryside."

Nodoka took it as a compliment. "Thank-you Cologne." She said. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

Cologne smiled. "I am here to ensure that the ancient evil that plagued my village hundreds of years ago has indeed been destroyed as your husband claims." She replied, "I am also here to ask you to agree to a marriage between my Granddaughter and your Son."

Nodoka looked at her son. "Ranma, is this something that you want?" she asked.

Ranma looked at Shampoo, who was staring at him hopefully, and he sighed. "I… I don't know…" he said, wincing as he saw the girl's face fall. "I just don't feel like I am ready for something like that yet."

Cologne looked at the boy and smiled. "No worries, Child." She said, "We will likely be here some time, so you two can get to know each other better."

Nodoka nodded. "That would be for the best." She said. "I wish that you had gotten home sooner. I enrolled Ranma and Ukyo in Furinkan High School and they need to meet the guidance councilor today. Oh, would you like some breakfast?"

Ranma's and Ukyo's eyes widened. "School? Already?" Ranma exclaimed.

"But we just got back!" said Ukyo.

Cologne hopped over to the breakfast table. "I think there is something else we have to deal with first." She said, picking up a glass filled with water.

Genma sighed. "Honey, I have something to tell you." He said, wincing as her face suddenly turned to a look of disapproval. "A couple months ago, the kids and I went to a cursed training ground called Jusenkyo. We were not aware of how bad the curses would be."

With no further ado, he dumped the water over himself, splashing Ranma, Ukyo and Ryoga in the process.

The now red-haired female Ranma glared at her father. "Hey!" she said, "Stupid Panda! You activated all our curses! Mom, we need hot water in order to change back."

Nodoka was speechless. Her husband and children had just changed into a Panda, a fox, a pig and a girl. She took a moment to school her features, and then brought out a tea kettle to change them all back. She looked at them all. "Ranma, Ukyo, your books are right here, and I am told you should not need uniforms. Walk Ryoga home and then go to Furinkan." She said. As they fled, she turned to Cologne and Shampoo. "I am going to need some time alone with my husband, if you don't mind." She said, "Do you two have a place to stay?"

Cologne chuckled. "No problem dearie." She said, "Our tribe maintains a business establishment here in Tokyo for just such an occasion. It is called the Nekohatten. We should have it open in a few days."

Nodoka nodded and watched as the Amazons left. Once they were gone, she turned to regard her husband. She fixed him with a glare and unsheathed her katana. "Now, Husband." She said in a low voice that dripped with venom. "Tell me again: Why it was that you decided to take the kids to a CURSED TRAINING GROUND!!"

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Ranma and Ukyo made good time, dashing across the rooftops toward Furinkan High School. They had been lucky enough to drop Ryoga off while his mother was home, and she told them that she would call and get Ryoga enrolled at Furinkan as well, to start the following day.

As the two of them entered the gate, they crashed into a girl with a pageboy haircut, sending Ranma into a puddle. The girl stopped and looked the two of them over. "You two are new here, right?" she asked, and they nodded. "Well, a word of advice: Don't be in the courtyard in five minutes. Tatewaki Kuno's Hentai Horde is laying in wait to attack my sister again. If you are in the courtyard, Akane will likely take you for one of them and beat you up with the rest."

This perked Ranma's interest. "Really? Is she that good?" He asked.

The girl nodded. "Akane is the best fighter in the School." She said. "The only ones who can beat her are our older sister and our father. I am Nabiki, by the way."

Ukyo looked at the large crowd of men waiting on the far side of the courtyard. "THAT is the Hentai Horde!?" she said, surprised at the number of participants. "Ran-chan, I am not sure if *I* could handle that many guys at once."

Nabiki looked at the group and her eyes goggled. "Crap. Looks like Kuno pulled out all the stops." She said, "He must be pulling guys from every school in the ward this time. This may get ugly."

Ukyo grinned. "That's okay, my b- sister and I like ugly fights." She said, "Right Ran-chan?"

The pigtailed martial artist frowned at her sister. "Maybe we can help this Akane girl out." She said, "Would she accept the help?"

Nabiki rubbed her chin, looking the pair of girls up and down. "Against a crowd like that?" she asked, "Maybe. If you think you are good enough to help her, you should wait until she needs it, though. She has a lot of pride as a fighter."

Ranma nodded, understanding entirely. She would hate someone butting in on one of her fights, too. The numbers were ridiculous, though.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Akane braced herself as she entered the school yard. Sure enough, Kuno and his goons were waiting. Her eyes widened when she saw the number. It was easily three times the size of Furinkan's entire student body. She winced as the Kendoist, in his usual perch in the tree half way across the yard, sounded the charge.

Straightening, Akane charged forward, meeting the horde head-on. She sank quickly into the Anything Goes form called "The Dance of the Thousand Fists," a once vs many, all-out defensive combat form. She hit took out the first one, rolling over him, kicking another and hitting a third with her bag. She did a jump kick into a flying roundhouse taking out a few more. She summoned her mallet and sent no less then fifteen of them into orbit, and followed up with a Giant Demon Face that scattered a few more.

Then she REALLY waded into the thick of it. She was completely surrounded, punching, kicking lashing out with mallet and school bag, but gradually the sheer number of opponents began to beat her defenses down, and she began to realize that she was going to lose at this rate. She could not let Kuno win. Not ever. She flung of a number of opponents in a grand show of strength and a rolling break maneuver.

But they kept coming. It was like fighting an oncoming tide. In sheer numbers they hammered at her defense, battering at her until she could not take it anymore.

Suddenly a cry went up on the far side of the horde. Akane spared it a glance and saw dozens of men flying through the air, clearly knocked out. Someone was attacking the horde to help her.

At first she thought it was Nabiki. Her older sister's skill was less than her own, but she could have held her own against fifty or so opponents. It took Akane a moment to realize that whoever it was, they were taking down a lot more foes than her sister could ever manage.

Her next thought was that Kasumi had somehow known she was in danger and arrived to save her. That thought was eliminated when the cries of surprise resolved into a Redhead in a red Chinese shirt and a girl in blue wielding a huge spatula, fighting as a team, crashing through the crowd like a red-and-blue tornado.

It took them a few moments to reach her, driving the boys back. "Hiya." The Redhead said. "We thought you could use a hand."

The other girl slammed her spatula into some of the remaining men before the three of them dropped into a back-to-back stance. "You have a lot of foes." She said, "We figured we would help even the odds."

The Youngest Tendo smiled. "Thanks." She said, "I needed a breather."

With that, the three of them sank into a synchronous fighting whirlwind, crushing all the foes that came against them, until the last of Kuno's Horde broke and fled.

When Tatewaki Kuno dropped from the tree, shouting at the fools to return and fight on. "It would seem that those cowards have no honor to fight to the last, even against three of the most glorious creatures mine eyes hath ever seen." The deranged swordsman declared, "I will have to make up for their absence in my swift defeat of you, that I may date you all!"

Akane winced. "See what I have to deal with every morning?" she said, "This rich, dishonorable slime is always the one behind it."

The redhead nodded. "He's all yours." She said simply.

Akane proceeded to beat the tar out of Kuno, until his battered form dropped unconscious on the ground.

Akane looked at the clock tower in surprise. "Wow, I can't believe I actually finished it with time to spare!" she said, turning toward her new companions. "Thanks for your help. It is so nice to find fighters of your caliber at this school. I am Akane Tendo. Do you want to be friends?"

Ranma smiled, feeling a connection with this girl already. "Sure." She said brightly. "I am Ran..ko Saotome and this is my sister, Ukyo."

Akane blinked. She thought for a second that she had heard that surname before. She shrugged it off, though. "Are you guys going to be new students here?" she asked.

Ukyo nodded, but Ranma frowned. "Uc-chan will, with our brother Ranma." she said, "Don't worry, he isn't the type to join Kuno's cause, and he could be a worthwhile friend. As for me, I am attending a private school in Juuban."

Ukyo sighed, understanding her brother's desire for secrecy, but still wishing she would not have to lie to a friend. "As much as we would love to chat, Akane," she said, "isn't that the bell?"

With a hasty "Oh! Bye!" Akane took off like a shot, leaving Ranma and Ukyo to get registered.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Back in his room in the Kuno Mansion, Sasuke examined his notes. Yes, he had been right. It seemed that shortly after Nabiki Tendo had set up that entertaining intelligence network of hers, she had set it about locating a man by the name of Saotome. She found a woman, living alone, but not the man that she sought.

Sasuke knew that the young lady that he had seen the previous night must be related somehow. This would be excellent. He would find the girl and use her to find the man. With this information, he could make a bargain with Ms. Tendo, one that would allow him access to all the funds she had siphoned off the Kunos in the last several months.

A grin crossed his face. Soon, he would have the means to find the fabled tribe of Amazons that could remove Orroichimaru's curse mark, removing the degenerative effect that took hold when he had left the Sanin's service that last time.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

A. N. Things are steadily moving toward the climax now. I have decided to go ahead and push it into crossover status, and am going to bring in some of the characters from other animes that have been hinted at in the previous chapters as well as a few others. Don't expect full casts, though. I am going to try not to let it get overcrowded. Ideas and constructive criticism always welcome.


End file.
